Beef mechado

In my town, beef mechado falls under fiesta food–so this was something I only got to eat at the neighbours’ as our family does not observe the town fiesta.

I took the guide recipe from Panlasang Pinoy, and I’m surprised that tomato and soy sauce can be combined in the same recipe. Also, I’ve seen other versions wherein they’d make a slit in the beef to insert some pork fat, and I think that’s what I was used to eating, but that’s too complicated for me to make! Mechado is a stew, so you should come up with a thick sauce (that stage when the oil is separating from the tomato sauce–oooh! 😋). (For this particular meal–I also added carrots–because I wanted to!)

Procedure:
1. Saute the garlic and onion.
2. Add the beef to sear.
3. Add the tomatoes and bay leaf–and some salt to lessen the time before the juice runs. If drying, water can be added.
4. When the meat is almost tender, add the potatoes.
5. When both the meat and potatoes are tender and soft respectively, add the soy sauce, lemon rind, passata or tomato puree to thicken the sauce.
6. Bring to simmer for a few minutes until the flavours have melded, and add pepper to taste.
7. Serve with rice. 😋